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Thursday, September 4, 2014

In
previous posts we talked about the basics of storing old photographs and
documents, preparing your workspace, why create digital images of old printed
photos, and a few of the tools you will need.

Cross-Eyed

If all
of this sounds daunting to you, and you have the cash, consider delivering your
heritage photos to a professional photograph conservator. Keep in mind that converting photographs to digital
format takes time, and can be expensive. Be wary of quick-turn-around places. Suppose
you have a few concerns about handing over your photographs to someone else. How
do you know they know what they are doing and have the right equipment? How can
you be sure your images will be carefully taken care of, and no damage will be
done by neglect or accident?

Resolving Trust Issues

I
recommend a couple different ways to find a trust-worthy company. The one you
choose should have…

·Proper training

·Good equipment

·Lots of experience

·What their specialty is

·Positive recommendations from
customers

·Instructions for how to properly
ship and handle your items

·Explanations of how they ensure
quality work

Go to
the American Institute for Conservation and click on the Find a Conservator
link. You can also find a list of private companies that do archival work at
the Regional Alliance for Preservation. You could also do an internet search
using terms like…

·Conservation

·Digitization

·Preservation

·Family papers

·Family photos

You Said Jazz Concert? I Thought
You Said Jazz Dance!

Also keep
in mind that equally trained and experienced professionals may disagree in
their methods and their results for what is best. Different professionals may
have very different results in image appearance. Some may alter/restore images
a great deal so the digital image has modern coloring and every mark and flaw
removed. Others keep discolorations and photo wear and tear as part of the
photograph’s story. They may feel that removing the look of age from a photo is
not wanted.

Before
you embark on this journey of finding the right professional conservator for
your projects, know what you are wanting for each image. Communicate every
detail of what you want and take nothing for granted. This phrase has been
heard at our house a time or two; “I can’t read your mind, honey. Use your
words and be clear.” Wink. You will
want to know and agree beforehand what procedure will be used, what the cost is
and what the timeline to completion is. Make sure you see treatment report
documents after completion.

Test Pilot

Not
quite sure you have found the right professional to help you? Try them out by
sending one object to work on. If you like their process and their result, then
you can feel comfortable sending more work their way.

All
this while keeping in mind our goals:

·Goal I: Create beautiful
original or restored digital images.

·Goal II: Preserve
original images and keepsakes in the best way possible.

Now you
know some guidelines for hiring a professional conservator. Let's say, however, you’ve
decided you want to do this yourself. The next post is for you.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Last post we talked about
Book Settings. Here we are covering
the Auto Layout section.

In Preset, check out your options:

Left Blank, Right One
Photo, Caption

Left Blank, Right One
Photo

One Photo Per Page

Under Preset you see two buttons, Auto Layout and Clear Layout.

Once you have selected
your preset choice, you can click the Auto
Layout button, and Lightroom automatically fills the pages with the images
from your collection, in the order you have them in the filmstrip. If you have
done all the set-up work and your images are all in the order you want, then
this can be the quickest book design work you have ever done. (Make sure you
prepare and include the front and back covers as images, in first and last place, respectively.)

Start over any time by
clicking Clear Layout.

If you prefer to
customize your pages a little more than that, then we are going to go back to Presets and select Edit Auto Layout Preset…

And the magic we can do customizing
with our Auto Layout options will be explored in the next post.

Next Post: Lightroom
& Book Making: Customizing Auto Layout Presets

These posts are part of a series: Introduction to Adobe
Lightroom®

Jennifer Apffel is a photographer
with over a decade of experience in portrait, event, and product photography.
She also does freelance graphic design and fine art. For more check out jenniferapffel.com, albaphotography.net or
look for her on fineartamerica.com.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

I heard you want to become a photo preservation expert, or
maybe just preservation savvy. Great! This and future posts will show you a few
things you will want to know.

The basic goals of preserving older photographs are:

·Goal I: Create beautiful original or restored
digital images.

·Goal II: Preserve original images and keepsakes
in the best way possible.

Why Go Digital?

Digital images are easy to share, move and store in multiple
places. Images that are shared are enjoyed! Digital images can be saved on
different computers, hard drives, clouds, and servers.

CDs and DVDs

You didn’t mention storage on CDs or DVDs, you may be
thinking. You are right. As I write this post, CDs and DVDs are going the way
of 8-tracks, laser discs, videos and VCRs. Computers are being made without the
large disc drives. Why? CDs and DVDs are more and more limited in the amount of
space they hold. They also get damaged and broken easily. Even if you are
storing them properly, the discs are deteriorating and will eventually be
unusable. The official term is "disc rot". I am personally working right now to move all my images saved on
disc to various hard drives and cloud management systems. I recommend you do the same.

Digital Copies in Many Places

Whether you want privacy or sharing and enjoying with as
many people as possible, digital images stored in many different places are
less likely to be lost. Paper and other materials will eventually deteriorate,
so creating a digital image provides a way for potentially greater longevity.
It is an important part of the preservation of the photograph and of history.
Keep digital copies of the same image in different places. That way you always
have a back-up somewhere.

How To Go Digital

There are many different ways to get your photographs into
digital format. How you do it will get you different results. Some methods are
better than others for specific situations. If you have lots of loose
photographs you want to make digital, investing in a quality scanner is a
really good idea. If you have an image that is behind glass and you don’t want
to or are unable to remove the image from the glass, taking a picture with your
digital camera may be the best way to get what you need. (Side note* Be careful
with the flash. More information on how to take these kinds of pictures in
future posts.) If you have an image that needs delicate handling, taking a
photograph of it may also be the best method to preserving the original image.

Photocopies Are Like Fingernails On A Chalkboard

The quality of the scanner is important. That is partly why
making photocopies is not recommended for pictures. Photocopy scanners are not
set up for fine detail. If you choose to make photocopies, you lose detail and
resolution (clarity of the image). Not to mention you end up with another
deteriorating paper, the printed photocopy is usually on low-quality high-acid-content paper and
the ink colors don’t match the original image. If you have a photocopier handy, I DO recommend photocopying the backs of old pictures that have been
written on.

If you do have a scanner, scan the backs of the photographs after scanning the front. The handwriting and the information written on the backs of these
pictures are just as important a part of the image preservation process.

Feeling overwhelmed and thinking you may not want to do this yourself? See the next post on what to look for in a professional conservator.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

If you have been taking pictures for a while now you may be wondering how well you really are doing. It's easy to see your progress in the beginning, but there will come a time when you need another set of eyes to help you see where and how you can make improvements to your work. You may indeed need many sets of eyes to get to your best work. This is where art shows and competitions can be helpful. If you have never been involved with either the thought can be daunting. I am no pro at either, but lucky for you I know people who are! I will go over some of the whys and hows with you in this post. The next two weeks will be interviews with two amazing photographers. One is a competition entering boss and the other is the king of the art show. (Since the latter is also my dad would that make me the princess of art shows by default? I wish!)While the art show is generally also a competition you may wonder why I am dividing the two into different categories. I do so because they are very different means to a similar goal. The art show is also a venue for selling your work and making yourself known to the community in a very personal way. It usually involves displaying a large body of your work and interacting with the public as they browse the various booths and displays at the event. It gives you an opportunity to meet people who are in the market for art and also those who are just learning what they like. In this setting you'll need to be confident enough to sell yourself as an artist and in turn sell your work. If the show is being judged it will be done based on your body of work, not just a certain photograph. You may be competing with other photographers as well as painters, sculptors, jewelry designers, etc. The shows I've been at with my dad have been an interesting mix of a little bit of everything. It's a great chance to meet other artists and collaborate.

A photography competition is a more specific way to have your work judged and critiqued. It will be judged by professional photographers as opposed to the general public. Your constructive criticism will be more focused and most likely more useful to you as a tool for improving your work. A themed competition will cause you to think about things in a more creative way as you will be photographing the same basic thing as everyone else and will want to stand out from the crowd. An open competition will allow you to submit your very best from every area of your expertise. They are both great opportunities for growth. There are competitions going on all of the time. PPA just finished their annual international competition and you can always find something going on locally or internationally by searching the major camera manufacturers websites, trade publications, and industry blogs. It's scary to put yourself out there like that but you'll never improve as quickly and as well than you will with the help of the best in the business. Competitions may be the only way you'll ever get them to look at your stuff.

So how in the world to you get started? Good question. I wish I had all the answers but I don't. Next week I'll be interviewing Lee Brantley, AKA King of the Art Show, with everything you need to know to get out in your community and show off your amazing talent. And hopefully make a few bucks in the process!

Thursday, August 21, 2014

·Goal II: Preserve
original images and keepsakes in the best way possible.

I have a loved one
with a room dedicated to family keepsakes, photo albums, papers and documents.
I don’t mean a display room, I mean a large storage room. And that room is
packed. We haven’t mentioned the garage yet. I might tease them about episodes
of Hoarders, but the real source of help will be in step-by-step digitization,
sharing, and the best archival storage possible. Right now these precious
things aren’t benefiting anyone. Some photographs are in albums, some are in boxes. Some photographs are from grandparents and great-grandparents, Some were taken a couple years ago. Some papers are in boxes, others are stacked in the open. Keepsakes and mementos are in various states of found condition and storage. The storage time-clock is ticking,
because these papers and materials are deteriorating.

Preventative Measures

Staying off deterioration
of original photographs and keepsakes is critical for the best longevity. How
you handle and store these things will determine just how long the keepsakes
last.

Think Like a Museum Curator

If something is
important, treat it accordingly. Exposure to temperature, moisture, light,
critters, acids and bases make a big difference.

Hot, Cold, Wet, Dry

Do your best to store
photographs and items in cool/room-temperature places with as little
fluctuation in temperature and moisture as possible. Most things are best kept
on the dryer side, but you will need to take your climate into consideration.
If you live in more humid areas, storage spaces with cedar help with moisture
and bug control. If you live in very dry climates, you will need to be careful
to keep a good moisture balance that your item(s) need. Keep everything in
place out of possible flood damage and away from heat sources in your home.
Keep away from in front of air vents, too.

Acids and Bases

All items have a PH
balance that keeps colors and materials at their best. Remember that fingertips
have natural oils and acids. While you may not notice now or a couple years
from now any effect that your fingers make, after many years the damage is
irreversible. That’s why you see museum curators use white cotton gloves. This
is not for the sake of being fancy, believe me. You can order white cotton gloves online very easily. If you want to go to the store, CVS, WalMart, and Target are among many that carry them. I'd look in the dermatological section first. Now if you don’t want to get
that serious and wear gloves, that’s understandable. There are still a few basics to
preservation that anyone can do.

The Basics

When you handle your
keepsakes, at least make sure you work on a clean dry surface free of any
dirt or dust. On the other hand, do not use strong cleaners on your work surface because they leave an acid residue. Use mild soaps and detergents and thoroughly dry your work area. Remove all liquids and mishaps-waiting-to-happen and
keep them far away, too. Store your photographs and keepsakes indoors, away from windows and
off of floors where possible.

Start Small

One item at a time, one
small box at a time. Start it. Finish it, and put it away. This doesn’t require
an instant herculean effort; it is more like the Grand Canyon one drop of water
at a time. Remember you are not alone, either! There are many others working on
similar projects. If you have questions for particular items, ask a
professional. Find online resources, professional photograph and other
restoration companies & individuals, find resources at your library, or ask
around your community.

Next Post: Going Digital With Old
Photographs

Future posts will include how to convert old photographs into digital
images, taking pictures of keepsakes, how to best store photographs and
keepsakes, sharing your digital images, stories & heritage, and a
few other things as they come up.

Adobe partnered with Blurb in 2013, and Lightroom 5 and InDesign
(with Blurb plug-in) became a great way to seamlessly go from image to design
to published. From the Blurb website: “Our mission from the beginning has been
to empower people to self-publish. The more ways to do it, the better. The more
people doing it, the better. The more books in the world...well, that’s the
best part of all.” Once you make your book, Blurb has a tool called BookWright
that provides a way to sell and distribute your printed, professional-looking
books. If you are into online
publishing, they can help you there too. You could even sell your book on
Amazon.

Sell
Me

If
you are looking for more motivation to do a book in Lightroom, there is a deal
going on right now where you can automatically save 25% on your first book you
make with Lightroom (until December 31, 2014). Photo books are currently starting
at $12.99 and are shipped in 7-10 days. There are no minimums, so you can make
one or many.

Freedom,
Technology, Premium, Archival

Burb’s self-description is “a mash-up of creative freedom with
print-on-demand technology… beautiful, bookstore-quality books on
premium paper stock with archival-quality binding. And anyone could make one.
Literally, just one. Or two. Or ten thousand.” How popular and trusted are they? They boast two million
books published and counting. For more see http://www.blurb.com/about-blurb.

No Hassle

The biggest benefit to making a book in Lightroom is this: If
you ever go back and change or edit an image any time before you print, that
image is automatically changed in the book as well. Simply no more effort to
it.

Don’t Hold Me Down

Start with your choice of 100 different layouts. Complete your
book and done. Or, take that layout and customize it a little … or a lot. Or
start with a blank slate and build your own layout completely. Whatever guides
you want are available, or let you creativity run free.

Ze Quality of Ze Final Product

If
I’m going to go to the effort of building a book, I don’t want to get that book
back and be disappointed at the feel of the paper or the cheap material or
binding. A book I make better be worth my time.

Five soft and hard cover books:

Small Square (7 × 7 in / 18 × 18
cm)

Standard Portrait (8 × 10 in / 20 ×
25 cm)

Standard Landscape (10 × 8 in / 25
× 20 cm)

Large Landscape (13 × 11 in / 33 ×
28 cm)

Large Square (12 × 12 in / 30 × 30
cm)

Five paper types:

Standard

80#

118
GSM

Premium
Matte

100#

148
GSM

Premium
Lustre

100#

148
GSM

ProLine
Pearl Photo

140#

190
GSM

ProLine
Uncoated

100#

148
GSM

Standard
Magazine

60#

89
GSM

Premium
Magazine

80#

118
GSM

Color
Trade

70#

105
GSM

B/W
Trade

50#

75
GSM

HP* Indigo printing:

“Images printed with the HP Indigo do
not mask the texture or surface of the paper, as you might see with some
toner-based prints. Instead the ink absorbs into the paper somewhat, which is
similar to what you would see with traditional offset lithography.” (see Blurb
Support, What types of printers does Blurb use?)

This post covered a lot about Blurb. When you know the quality
of the companies you are working with, you are more likely to feel comfortable
and use them. So you’ve decided to try out Lightroom book-making? Good. Let’s
get into the How-To’s... in the next post.

Next
Post: Lightroom: Your Book Making Tools

These posts are part of a series:
Introduction to Adobe Lightroom®

Jennifer Apffel is a photographer
with over a decade of experience in portrait, event, and product photography.
She also does freelance graphic design and fine art. For more check out jenniferapffel.com, albaphotography.net or
look for her on fineartamerica.com.